First Kiss
by Hammy Uchiha
Summary: [ONESHOT]Iruka is the crazy director and the youth of Konoha are trying out for his play, which may be a disaster just waiting to happen.


**At last I have finished this! I think I started it back in September and thanks to my sister discovered it in my documents several weeks ago. Now here it is, for the first time ever: my first totally NaruHina fic!**

**Note: I don't own Naruto **

** Please read and review, or the abs will come for you!**

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**First Kiss**

By Hammy Uchiha

The indigo haired girl pushed her way through the shin high snow. Her father had talked her into this. She hated how much control he had over her life, or at least how weak she was to do whatever he told her to. What if she didn't want to be in this stupid play? But no, she had to try out, had to get the lead role to maintain the honor of her clan. Hinata could have almost screamed… if she wasn't so worried someone would hear her.

The academy was a long walk from the Hyuga Residence, made worse by the fact it was winter and snow was piled high everywhere. Hinata's boots crunched the snow as she walked, wondering who else would show up. Probably Ino and Sakura would be there, and Kiba, Tenten, Lee, and maybe….just maybe….Naruto-kun. If he was there, Hinata would gladly try out for any part.

When Hinata finally opened the door and entered the building, she stomped the snow from her boots. It was warmer inside; at classroom 104 Kiba sat on a bench outside the room. Akamaru let out a short bark when he saw Hinata.

"Hello…Kiba-kun, Akamaru," she said with a short bow.

"Hey Hinata, I didn't think you'd show up for something like this," said Kiba. _Neither had Hinata._

"Well I…"

The classroom door creaked and, to Hinata's surprise, Sasuke exited the room. Sasuke Uchiha? Trying out for a play? That was definitely not something she had expected. Kiba got up.

"Stay here, Akamaru," he told his constant companion. Akakamaru whined. Kiba scratched Akamaru's head fondly and then walked in. Sasuke leaned against the wall, looking bored, as usual. Hinata nervously fiddled with the zipper of her coat.

"Don't be so nervous," said Sasuke with an annoyed sigh. Hinata blushed and jammed her hands in her pockets. Within moments Kiba walked out.

"Okay Hinata, your turn," he said. Hinata got up feeling more terror than she had ever felt before. She hesitated before the door, having serious second thoughts.

"Just do it already," said Sasuke, her nervousness was starting to make him nervous. She opened the door and walked in. To her shock Iruka-sensei was seated in a chair with a clipboard.

"Iruka-sensei??"

Hinata walked out of the room with a sigh of relief, it was over. Out in the hall was now a crowd, Hinata searched for Naruto. Was he going to try out? Sakura was the next to tryout. Then Hinata spotted her crush he was telling Sasuke how _he _not Sasuke was going to get the lead. Sasuke's face didn't betray his thoughts about Naruto saying that.

"Hey! Sasuke will totally get the part!" shouted Ino at Naruto. Sasuke didn't have to respond, that was the job of his fan girls.

"I wasn't talking to you, Ino-pig," shot back Naruto.

"Only the Forehead can say that to me," yelled Ino hitting Naruto over the head. Sasuke walked off. _Let them fight; it's not as if I care._

"Hey Sasuke-kun, where are you going?" called Ino running after him. Naruto rubbed his head for a minute, when Sakura came out of the room, Naruto bounced in. Five minutes later he bounced out.

"I'm totally gonna get that part!" he shouted to anyone who would listen. Hinata smiled shyly, he was the complete opposite of her, she was so nervous about everything while he was overly confident.

It wasn't long before everyone who wanted to, had tried out, the group chattered nervously as they waited for the results.

"How do you think you did?" asked Naruto. Hinata turned bright red, he was talking to her.

"I…I don't r…really know," she managed to whisper.

"I bet you did great!" replied Naruto patting her on the back. Hinata was tomato red.

"Alright now!" called Iruka quieting the noisy group of former students. "First I'll read off those of the kunoichi who got parts, and then I'll read the boys,"

The group was tense, everyone except for Naruto who was too confident and Sasuke still acting like he didn't care.

"First, playing the lead female part is…."

The kunoichi held their breaths.

"Hyuga Hinata,"

"YES!!!" Hinata burst out. All eyes turned to her. Hinata turned red, had that come out, out loud?? Sakura and Ino's death stares forced her to look down at her feet.

"See? I told you, you'd do great," said Naruto with a grin. "Great job, Hinata!"

Hinata turned redder. _He was congratulating her._

"Hinata's understudy will be Haruno Sakura who will also play Hinata's best friend…" Iruka went on down through the list of female characters.

"Now for the boys…"

The boy shinobi waited anxiously. _"Please let Naruto get the main."_ Thought Hinata desperately.

"The main male part will be played by…" Iruka paused and looked with some sick amusement at the group of tense teens.

"_Me. Me. Me. Me," _thought Naruto.

"_Naruto. Naruto. Naruto. Naruto,"_ thought Hinata. Iruka grinned, they all looked like they were about ready to blow up.

"Uchiha Sasuke," he said. Sasuke smiled. _Looks like Naruto was wrong._ "Who will get the chance to kiss Hinata-sama in the finale,"

"WHAT!?!?" demanded Ino and Sakura at once.

"I…I have to what?!" gasped Hinata blushing. She had never kissed anyone and she didn't want her first kiss to be with Sasuke. She stumbled back a few steps, before fainting. Only Naruto leapt to catch her.

"Hinata? Hinata?" he called shaking her softly. Hinata groaned and opened her pale lavender eyes; she was looking up into Naruto's sky blue eyes. _He's touching me. _Her cheeks turned a shade of red that would have made the tomatoes envious, and fainted again.

When Hinata came to, Naruto was still holding her.

"It's good to see you finally coming around," he said with a smile. Hinata tried not to feel so nervous but it was hard. He helped her up to her feet. Hinata tried to get her bearings.

"Are you feeling better?" asked Naruto. The hallway was empty. Maybe the tryouts hadn't started yet thought Hinata.

"D…did they announce the parts yet?" she asked looking around.

"Yeah," replied Naruto with a frown. "Don't you remember; you got the lead?"

Hinata looked like she might faint again, she swayed and Naruto caught her arm.

"S…so i...it wasn't a…a dream?" she asked swaying again.

"No, aren't you happy?" asked Naruto with a worried look on his face, he sat her down on the bench. _Then I still have to kiss him._ Hinata looked like she might get sick. Naruto rubbed her back, he couldn't think of anything else to do to make her feel better.

"I'm Sasuke's understudy," he said finally obviously proud he was the second choice to Sasuke. "And old Bushy Brows gets to be the villain,"

"Lee's a villain?" asked Hinata perking up. She let out a little giggle. Naruto joined her with his strong laugh. on y…your part, N…Naruto-kun," she said blushing.

"Say Hinata, it's getting late, and it's a long way to the Hyuga Residence, we should probably get going," said Naruto wrapping his scarf around his neck, and zipping up his heavy coat.

"That's what I was about to say," said Iruka appearing from nowhere with a broom. "You kids left a big mess and I'm stuck here cleaning up so hurry up," he said. Hinata zipped up her coat as well and pulled back on her hat.

As Naruto pushed open the door a freezing wind stole their breath away in a sharp instant. They both staggered for a moment before pushing forward. Snowflakes were heavy in the wind and along the way they were forced to stop several times before pushing onward. At last Naruto's house was in sight as the wind was howling loudly and cold wetness had begun to seep into Hinata's boots. Naruto turned off to head in and pulled Hinata along after him.

"W…what a…are y…you doing?" asked Hinata shivering.

"Its r…really bad o…out, you'd better s…sit it out until the snow l…lessens up," said Naruto shivering. With a shaking hand he stuck the key in his door and with a click he opened it and pulled Hinata in, slamming the door behind them. Inside it was warm. Naruto shook his head wildly spraying freezing water everywhere. Hinata giggled softly. Naruto kicked off his boots.

"You good for some ramen for dinner?" asked Naruto kicking off his boot and throwing his coat to the floor. He vanished around the corner.

"S…sure," said Hinata as she heard him rustling through his cupboards. She pulled off her own boots and wet socks, and hung up her coat. On a sudden urge she couldn't help but hang Naruto's coat up as well. Then she wandered around the corner to find Naruto cooking up some of his favorite ramen.

"If you want," said Naruto juggling to hold onto the packets of ramen and dump some water into a pot. "You can call your dad, to let him know you got the part," managed Naruto barely a catching a packet before it fell into the water.

Hinata looked around for the phone. She looked but couldn't see it.

"Here," said Naruto dashing to her aid, he reached under the couch and pulled it out with a sheepish grin.

Hinata sat down on the floor to use it. She lifted up the phone as Naruto stirred the ramen bouncing from one foot to the other. There was no dial tone on the phone, and did not respond when Hinata tried to dial her home number. She checked, but the phone was plugged in.

"The t…telephone wires must be d…down," said Hinata at last standing up. Naruto was spooning out the ramen, and he sat down at the table and passed her a bowl.

"That's too bad," said Naruto beginning to slurp up his ramen. Hinata took a hesitant slurp.

"So what part did Kiba-kun get?" she asked at last.

"He's a tree," said Naruto over a mouthful of ramen. Outside the wind roared and Hinata shivered, glad she had come in.

"You cold?" asked Naruto looking over at her.

"N…no, n…no, I'm fine," said Hinata blushing in embarrassment. She turned back to her ramen and began to slurp it up. Naruto sat back with a happy sigh, already done with his. When Hinata had finished her ramen Naruto was standing at the window and looking out. She joined him wondering if the torrent of snow had slowed down enough for her to go home. Outside hardly anything could be seen through the fury of the snow, at that instant there was the deep hum of the power shutting down and then it started back up. Hinata stood wide eyed beside Naruto who was looking around curiously. The lights flickered twice and then the power was gone. Hinata let out a small gasp of horror. Naruto caught Hinata's arm in the dark and led her to the couch.

"I'll go get some matches and we can light a fire," he reassured her. Hinata hugged herself in the dark, it was getting cold. She could hear Naruto stumbling around searching for the matches. Suddenly there was a dim glow as Naruto came back with a lit match, smiling proudly. Hinata helped him pile some wood into the fireplace and then he lit it. It was small at first but slowly and surely the fire grew consuming the log in a crackling flame.

"That's better," said Naruto with a grin. They sat close the fire to stay warm, but it was quickly growing late.

"You could probably just stay here tonight," said Naruto at last noticing Hinata looking nervously towards the window. "Your dad wouldn't mind. It'd be better than trying to get through that storm and probably getting lost." Hinata was nodding. Naruto ran off and returned with a bedroll for the indigo haired girl then he ran off to get his own pillow and blankets. Hinata burrowed down in the blankets where it was nice and warm, and curled up with a yawn. Naruto had spread his blankets out nearby and had lain down as well. Soon Hinata was lulled to sleep by the crackling of the fire.

When Hinata next opened her eyes she found herself to be warm and there was an arm draped over her shoulder. Hinata let out a shriek and leapt up from where she had been lying next to Naruto. Naruto groaned.

"Huh? What is it?" he murmured before rolling over and going back to sleep. Hinata's cheeks had reached a new shade of red by now and she was cold all over. She stumbled over to the window and looked out. The crisp new fallen snow was everywhere unbroken by the footsteps of humans. Quietly she turned back to Naruto, still snoring on the floor. Her cheeks reddened and she went back to fold up her bedding.

Naruto woke up to some good smelling. Oatmeal? Ramen? ...Pancakes? He leapt up at once wondering if he was dreaming but there was Hinata at the stove cooking none other than the fantastical pancakes. Naruto leapt over the chair and flew over the table to hug-tackle Hinata, because if there was one thing he loved as much as ramen it was pancakes. Hinata felt the life being squeezed out of her as Naruto went into a spazz attack over the pancakes. She was blushing again when he finally let go before the pancakes burnt. Happily he accepted the plate she offered him as the sat down at the table.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" he cried forgetting his fork and reaching for the pancake. "Itadakimasu!" Then he picked up the pancake and proceeded to try and stuff the whole plate of them in his mouth at once. Hinata giggled softly abandoning her fork and taking a hesitant bite out of the pancake.

When they had finished washing the dishes Naruto, with a yawn checked his watch.

"Ack!" he grabbed her arm. "We're going to be late!" he cried and they ran to where their boots sat from the night before. Hinata pulled on the boots and then her coat. Naruto was wrapping his scarf on. He pulled her hat on her head as she zipped up his coat and then with a joint effort they managed to push the door open through the heavy snow. Naruto shut the door behind them and locked it. They leapt up on the hardened crust of the snow and ran for the school. They went in right behind Sasuke who was fashionably late. Sakura was already waiting, as was Lee. Iruka was sitting with the script waiting patiently.

"I'm glad you were able to get here!" cried Sakura running up but missing both Hinata and Naruto and heading for Sasuke, who looked annoyed…as usual. "It was so terrifying when the power went out last night, and the Uchiha district is so far, I was worried you wouldn't be able to make it!" she cried.

"I was fine the district has a back up generator, and a little snow never stopped anyone," he said coldly. Sakura was left twitching.

"Okay people let's get this act together!" called Iruka who had donned a barrette and a fake moustache. "Let's take it from the beginning!"

"Okay, let's try this again," groaned Iruka after the thirteenth time they had gone through the scene. "Lee you have to act evil and kidnap Sakura," he said.

"But sensei…?"

"No! You're supposed to be evil even if it means kidnapping the noble Sakura," said Iruka tightening his ponytail and adjust the lopsided barrette on his head. Lee's shoulders sunk and they began again.

"I shall lock you up in my lair!" laughed Lee evilly as Sakura feigned fear. "Now if you don't mind I'm going to tie your wrists," said Lee bashfully. "I won't tie them too tight, do not fear Sakura-chan,"

Iruka slapped his forehead again. "Stop! Don't ask permission! Just do it! Urgh! Let's try this again,"

"Yes sir, Iruka-sensei, sir!" cried Lee snapping to attention. Sakura ran a hand through her hair and struck her pose again.

"I shall lock you up in my lair!" laugh Lee evilly. He pulled out his rope and turned to tie up Sakura's wrists. "You have very beautiful hands Sakura-chan," he complimented her. Sakura blushed and Iruka's head drooped again.

"Not again…"

Naruto shook his head from off stage. "That's a bad roll for Bushy Brows, they should've cast Sasuke as the villain," said the blonde haired ninja.

"What did you say!?" cried Ino appearing out of nowhere to take revenge.

"Gah!" cried Naruto falling to the floor by the sudden appearance of Ino. Her eyes were flaming.

"No one disses the great Sasuke Uchiha!" she cried clenching her fists.

"Sai!" yelled Naruto in horror before Ino could kill him. Sai, the only one who hadn't tried out for a part, came walking over carrying his paper and ink as usual. Naruto wasn't sure where he had come from, but he really didn't think it mattered. Ino saw Sai and began to blush furiously.

"What is it Naruto-kun?" asked Sai. Naruto, who was still covering his head with his arms for protection spoke up.

"I just remembered you haven't done a portrait of Ino yet," said the blonde. Ino was blushing.

"You really want to do a portrait of me?" she asked.

"N…" Naruto clapped a hand over Sai's mouth.

"Just do it," he hissed to the other boy. Sai gave him a weird look before pulling away from Naruto.

"Yes," he said and Ino blushed further. Sai directed her to a place to sit down and pulled out a clean sheet of paper, he sat down on the stage floor and began to paint as Naruto snuck away.

Just when Naruto thought he had got away he ran into someone.

"Watch where you're going, idiot," said Sasuke glaring at Naruto.

"Why don't you watch where you're going?" demanded Naruto angrily glaring right back. At that moment Iruka's yell sounded over the commotion backstage.

"Hey Uchiha, you missed your entrance!"

Sasuke groaned and turned around.

"Idiot," he muttered. Naruto snuck around to the edge of the curtain to watch to see how good an actor Sasuke actually was. Sasuke looked annoyed from the opposite side of the stage as Naruto made faces at him. Sasuke, in a rare spurt of immaturity stuck his tongue out at Naruto.

"W…wish me luck," said Hinata softly appearing behind him. Naruto turned around his own tongue still sticking out. Hinata cried out and leapt back. Naruto grinned sheepishly.

"What'd you say?" he asked.

"Oh...uh…n…nothing," replied Hinata.

"That night in the stupid forest," read Shikamaru who was supposed to be the narrator. "The two ninja lovers met for their final moments…-yawns- together… man, this is so dumb…" he said ending in a low mutter. Hinata ran out as did Sasuke.

Hinata ran to Sasuke who caught her hands and looked sincerely into her eyes.

"I don't want to leave you," he said in a voice that didn't seem to belong to the Sasuke she knew.

"I…I…" Hinata stuttered unable to speak. Iruka massaged his forehead, he had the feeling this would be a long day. When rehearsal was finished and people were heading home, Hinata looked around for Naruto. She wanted to thank him for letting her spend the night at his house. She hurried around a curtain wondering if he was in the back helping paint scenery or something. She crashed into another person and fell to the floor.

"Oh, I…I'm sorry, S…Sasuke-kun," she stammered getting up and brushing off her shirt.

"I was looking for you," he answered. Hinata's cheeks reddened. He came over to her and pushed a script into her hands.

"Learn your lines," he said and walked off. Hinata watched after him her cheeks reddening further in embarrassment.

"Hey, hey, hey! Hinata!" cried Naruto running up from nowhere.

"Oh…uh…hi, N…Naruto-kun," she said with a faint smile.

"I see you've got a script," he said noticing the script Sasuke had handed her and shuffling to keep something hidden behind his back. "You might want to look it over tonight…" he said. Hinata looked to him. She may have expected Sasuke to do this to her, but Naruto?! Her lip trembled. She ran off, clutching the script to her chest, tears beginning to leak down her cheeks. She couldn't help it she hadn't had a chance to look over the script the night before. It was their first practice; it wasn't supposed to be perfect. She zipped up her coat and tugged down her hat as she left the school and went out into the freezing wind.

Her tears only made the biting wind colder as Hinata pushed her way home. She let out a soft sob as she reached the door to her house and tried to wipe the tears from her eyes. She knocked heavily on the door, and waited shivering in the wind. Small snowflakes were whipped through the air as she bounced from one foot to the other. She knocked again and tried the door. It was locked, she shivered.

What if they were all gone? What if they were out looking for her since she hadn't called home last night. Hinata hugged herself trying to swallow the tears already beginning to well up in her eyes and run down her face. She bit her lip and choked on a sob. At that moment the door opened.

"Hinata-sama!" Neji pulled her in out of the cold and shut the door behind her. She looked at him gratefully. "Where have you been?" asked Neji in a whisper. "Hiashi's gonna' kill you,"

"I couldn't get home, it was snowing too hard," replied Hinata. "I tried to call home, but the phone lines were out." Neji was nodding as she shed her coat and hung it up.

"But where were you?"

"At N…Naruto-kun's house," replied Hinata sniffling. Neji grumbled something.

"I don't think Hiashi's gonna like that," he said. "You were at Tenten's last night…right?" he asked her louder. Hinata gave him an awkward look, he gave her a wink.

"Oh yeah," she answered.

"I'll go tell him and you can go wash up or change clothes or whatever you girls do when you get home from sleepovers," replied Neji. Hinata hurried to her room and took a quick shower. The hot water took away some of the pain from her day. She then dressed and hurried downstairs before she missed dinner.

She slid into her seat at the table as the rest of her family ate.

"So you were at Tenten's last night?" asked her father after several long moments. Hinata nodded, not trusting her voice to impart the lie to her father.

"And how was she?" he asked. Hinata took a large bite of food and gave her father a smile, while he waited for her to swallow before answering. Hinata frantically thought up an answer for his question.

"Oh she's alright,"

"She has the flu," said her father. Neji winced.

"She's doing better," instantly replied Hinata.

"That's good to hear," answered Hiashi. Neji let out an inaudible sigh of relief.

"So what part did you get?" asked Neji casually to change the subject.

"The lead girl part," answered Hinata. Her father, Neji and the silent Hinabi all choked on their food.

"What?!"

"Really?!"

"That's cool!"

Hinata's cheeks flushed with pride.

"That's my girl," said Hiashi patting Hinata on the back.

"Good job!" congratulated Hinabi.

"That's amazing," said Neji. Hinata could only smile; it felt really good to finally be appreciated.

Naruto came home to an empty house as he normally did, but today it felt more empty than usual without Hinata. He wasn't quite sure why she had run off crying but he had the feeling it had something to do with Sasuke. Or…maybe it wasn't Sasuke… maybe it was him who made her cry… That thought made him feel terrible and he picked up the phone, wondering if the lines were back up. He had to look up her number but he finally dialed it after some mental preparation and waited as the phone rang, and rang…and rang. No one answered as they were all leaning over Hinata's shoulder as she looked through the script, and asking who was doing this and who was doing that, and who was the guy she had to kiss.

Naruto hung up the phone sadly and wondered if she hated him now too. He had never seen Hinata cry like that. What if that had been the final straw? What if she had locked herself in the bathroom and was crying her eyes out? Naruto shuddered, he hadn't meant to be hurtful. _I'm such an idiot._ As he made himself some ramen for dinner he resolved to call her later. After he had eaten dinner he picked up the phone again.

"Hello?"

"Hinata-chan? Are you okay? I…I mean I'm sorry…" stammered Naruto sitting back in his couch.

"Oh…" came a wavering reply from Hinata. The girl with indigo colored hair sat back on her bed as she was reminded of the awful ending to her afternoon.

"Are you okay?" asked Naruto again. There was a sniffle on the other end and the blonde felt worse. "Hinata-chan I'm really sorry," he frantically apologized before she could start crying. "I didn't mean you were terrible…I was just saying you could use some work on those lines…" Naruto winced; he should have stopped a while back.

"Hinata… are you still there?" he asked over the phone. There was no answer. Distantly he could hear sniffling. Slowly the blonde hung up, not sure what to do.

"Hey Hinata-sama? Are you okay in there?" came the call of Neji through the door. When no answer came he opened the door and saw the phone laying forgotten on the bed. He hung it up. "Hinata?" he called. He heard a sniffle from the bathroom and peeked in. His cousin was sitting on the floor, her knees tucked under her chin, her back to the wall.

"Who was on the phone? I'll beat their face in for you," offered Neji. "That is…" he began when Hinata didn't respond, "…if it wasn't Naruto. We already know he's a better ninja than me," he said. Hinata didn't look up but sniffled again. Neji sat down beside her and waited for her to speak. "It was Naruto…wasn't it?" he asked. Hinata's head bobbed in a nod. Neji sighed.

"Okay, you're doing much better today Hinata, are we ready for the big scene?" asked Iruka. Sasuke nodded solemnly while Ino and Sakura were pouting in the background. All eyes were on Hinata, including Naruto's. She swallowed.

"Y…yes."

"Good okay, start!"

"I'm doing this for you, you have to trust me," said Sasuke in a voice hardly above a whisper. Hinata looked into his eyes.

"I just can't let you go," she said back and leaned forward eyes shut. _Watch me now, Naruto… I don't need you…_ Sasuke would have then kissed her if he hadn't been tackled by his two rabid fangirls.

"NO!!!" they cried throwing themselves at Sasuke. Too caught up in the moment he was unable to dodge their attack and tackled to the stage floor by Ino and Sakura. Naruto let out a sigh of relief, if they hadn't stopped Hinata from kissing Sasuke, he would have. Hinata took a shocked step back as Sasuke fought the rabid Ino and Sakura who had him pinned to the ground. Iruka groaned, and made sure to take note that Ino and Sakura were to be held captive during this particular scene during the performance.

"Ladies, ladies, can we let poor Sasuke go?" he asked.

"NO!" they cried. Finally in one move Sasuke shoved them off and leapt up before they could attack again. Ino and Sakura caught a hold of his ankles anchoring him to the spot where he stood. Sasuke groaned and ran a hand through his perfect hair.

"Why should Hinata get to kiss him?" demanded Sakura.

"She doesn't even like him!" cried Ino.

"Yeah! We all know who Hinata likes, except the boy himself!" added Sakura.

"Who does she like?" asked Naruto turning to Kiba in the tree costume. Kiba slapped his forehead with one of the branches and shook his head.

"You just don't get it, do you?" he said.

"Okay, okay, we'll skip that scene for now," said Iruka flipping through his script. "Uh girls, if you'd mind letting Sasuke go, we can run through the final scene before practice is over,"

Reluctantly Ino and Sakura let go of Sasuke. "Let's get this over with," complained Shikamaru into the mike. "The tragic deaths of our heroes saved the village from its –groans- most certain demise, now can I go home?" he asked.

"No, Shikamaru," answered Iruka. "Everyone on stage for the curtain call." The members of the cast and Sai for some unknown reason got on stage and lined up. Well, lined up after a good five minutes of pushing and shoving and groaning from Shikamaru.

"There, now go home," said Iruka, "And leave me in peace," he said with an overly dramatic moan. His words were wasted as most of the young ninja were already gone. Hinata was grabbing her coat and getting ready to run if Ino and Sakura leapt out of nowhere to take her out.

"Hey Hinata-chan!" came a cheerful voice from behind her and Hinata froze.

"Oh…hi…N…Naruto-kun," answered Hinata fumbling with her zipper.

"Uh…you did a really good job today," said Naruto with a smile. _I wonder if she still hates me…_

"Uh…th…thanks," said Hinata in reply. _I bet he's lying…_

"I'm…um… sorry for what I said yesterday… I didn't mean it like that," said Naruto scratching the back of his head awkwardly. Hinata pulled on her hat and didn't say anything else. Naruto watched her walk away.

"Hinata…?" he called after her. _There goes the one person who understands me…_ "Hinata..?!" he yelled and ran after her. Hinata paused and looked back. Naruto was running full force after her. She turned and ran out the door.

"Wait!" he cried reaching the door just as it was about to close. "Hinata!" he yelled after her, but she was already running away off into the snowy afternoon.

"You really are a screw up," said Sasuke pushing his way out the other door.

"What did you say?!" demanded Naruto heading after him.

"You totally screwed that up," answered Sasuke wrapping his scarf more thoroughly over his face.

"Well, what'd I do wrong then, since you're so smart?" yelled Naruto catching up with Sasuke. Sasuke shrugged.

"You need to give her something to make up for whatever you did," answered the Uchiha not even stopping to look at Naruto. Naruto crossed his arms.

"How would you know?" he pouted.

"Because I do," answered Sasuke.

"That's stupid," said Naruto. Sasuke shrugged.

"Screw up,"

"Dumb ass!" shot back Naruto stopping and letting Sasuke walk off. He jammed his hands in his pockets.

"I wonder if Sakura-chan knows what I should do…? I don't want Hinata to be so mad at me," he muttered and made his way through the snow to Sakura's house. He reached the door to find Lee already there fumbling with a bouquet of flowers.

"What are you doing here Bushy Brows?" asked Naruto coming to the door. Lee turned around to face Naruto hurriedly looking embarrassed.

"I uh… came here to make up to Sakura for tying the rope around her wrists yesterday," he said awkwardly. Naruto nodded and waited for Sakura to answer the door. He waited and waited…and waited.

"Did you knock?" he asked Lee at last. Lee was still fumbling with the bouquet.

"No," he said. Naruto slapped his forehead and knocked on the door. It opened almost at once.

"Hey Naruto-kun, Lee-kun," said Sakura with a smile apparently having recovered from her random attack of the jealous envy that every rabid Sasuke fangirl gets every once and a while.

"Uh…I came to apologize for hurting your wrists," said Lee bashfully thrusting the flowers into her hands. Sakura's eyebrow twitched before Lee ran off, too embarrassed to wait for a reply.

"Um… okay," she muttered. "What are you here for Naruto?" she asked the blonde who was still looking in the direction Lee had run off in.

"Can I talk to you about something?" asked Naruto awkwardly. Sakura's eyebrow went through another attack of twitching.

"Sure, come in," she said letting him into her warm house. "Hang on a minute," she said running off to put the flowers in some water. When she returned Naruto was flipping through a magazine entitled: "Medics Weekly" He dropped it when she came back.

"Sooo…?" she asked.

"Well…" said Naruto poking his fingers together.

"If you're going to ask me out the answer is no," said Sakura before he could say anything. Naruto shook his head.

"No, it's not that," he said. "It's about Hinata."

"Ah…Hinata," whispered Sakura flames burning in her eyes. "She must be stopped…" she muttered.

"Uh well…" said Naruto ignoring Sakura's comment, "I think I made her mad, and I tried to apologize, but she ran away…" he said.

"Did you give her anything to make up for whatever you did?" asked Sakura. Naruto shook his head. "That's your problem right there."

"So Sasuke was right?!" cried Naruto in horror. Sakura raised an eyebrow. "Thanks Sakura-chan," he said happily overcoming his disbelief and he left the house.

"Uh… You're welcome?" asked Sakura after him.

It took Naruto several days to decide what to give Hinata and once he decided he had to wait for the final performance of their production.

When the curtain went up and Hinata's family went wild along with several others parents in the audience, Naruto had already made his plan, and Sasuke was fine with it, and he was positive Ino and Sakura would be happy, and he'd be happy and he hoped Hinata'd be okay with it.

The scenes ran flawlessly, with the exception of Lee who apologized several times to Sakura for tying her up, and Iruka sat in the front row crying happy manly tears of joy. Slowly but surely, the play began to draw to a close and the kiss scene was fast approaching. Ino and Sakura were nervous. _What if Naruto didn't go through with it??_ Naruto was calm as he ran on stage drawing his fake sword to fight Lee, Lee, as they had practiced many times fake slew Naruto, and the blond ninja fell to the stage as if dead. Having triumphed Lee attempted to laugh evilly, and he did it pretty well. Then he exited the stage with a flourish of his cape. Sasuke was the next to enter, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword. Horror dawned on his face when he saw his dead companion, Naruto tried to hold in the laughter as he watched Sasuke's fake crying through one open eyes. Sasuke knew Naruto was watching his dramatic performance and made sure to mouth the word 'screw up', before Iruka broke into sobs. Several people in the crowd were crying as well.

"Darling?" came Hinata's voice as she came on stage. Naruto shut his eyes and without moving his arm he gave Sasuke a thumbs up. Sasuke sucked in a breath and turned to Hinata.

"He's dead," he said brokenly. Hinata's eyes were wide.

"No," she whispered reaching out for Sasuke's hands. He caught her hands and looked into her purple eyes.

"As much as I love you," he said leaving the script behind. "It was never meant to be," he said. Iruka was watching the two ninja on stage with bulging eyes. _WHAT THE HELL ARE THEY DOING?!? _Sasuke dropped Hinata's hands. She was looking confused at Sasuke.

"Wh…what's going on?" she whispered. Naruto leapt up just as Sasuke took a step out of the way. Naruto caught Hinata's hands and his sky blue eyes locked with her pale lavender ones.

"I love you Hinata," he said and their lips met. Sasuke smiled a small smile and stuck his hands in his pockets.

"My work is done here," he muttered and walked off stage. Neji began to applaud in the audience, and Hinabi joined him until the whole audience was cheering. Sai came onstage and took several quick bows before he was dragged off stage by Sasuke.

Iruka was clutching his head.

"What are you doing?" he demanded as Naruto and Hinata broke apart at last. At that moment Lee leapt out of nowhere his sword drawn.

"ARR!" he cried, just like a pirate, and stage slew Hinata as well. She fell to the floor and Naruto fell back to the floor returning to his deathlike state. Sasuke appeared from offstage and the play went on as planned. Soon Sasuke joined the dead on the floor and Lee laughed his final laugh before Sakura stuck him through with a fake kunai and the curtain dropped down. Naruto pulled up Hinata as the whole cast lined up the curtain rose to a roaring applause as Iruka looked on in confusion. Finally he stood up and applauded the loudest, the rest of the crowd rose as well in a standing ovation.

Naruto looked at Hinata. "Are we good now?" he asked. Hinata blushed and nodded clutching his hand tighter.

"Y…yeah we're good."

* * *

**Come on, you know you're just dying to review! **

**Thanks if you do.**

**-Hammy Uchiha**


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